May the wind always be at your back!

^{Keith Austen playing the Irish National Anthem}

This is one of my favorite Irish quotes, not that I am Irish. I just think there is so much value in it and not just a plain old “good luck”.

If we never get the wind from the front will we be lucky? Or do we need to experience the wind from the front so that we can learn from the situation? I wonder.

We’ve got an idiom in Afrikaans (my home language) “Jou mantel na die wind draai” (to turn your cloak to the wind)
What this means is to act as if you are always a winner, even settling for circumstances in an unprincipled manner. Umh…

Enough of the wind, let me get back to the Irish.

Yesterday, 17 March, was St. Patrick’s Day and people all across the globe celebrated it even if it had no true meaning to them. It is just another reason to get together with friends and family having a blast of a time.

For the Irish, it is a day to celebrate their heritage and their culture. For very few, it is a reminder of Saint Patrick’s return to Ireland bringing Christianity with him.

These celebrations include music with harps, eating corned beef and cabbage, drinking Guinness, decorating their homes with shamrocks, dressing up like leprechauns, and joining céilí gatherings with music, singing and dancing. There is no better place to celebrate than an Irish pub.

Some interesting facts

☘ Saint Patrick was not at all Irish.

☘ It is believed that Saint Patrick drove all the snakes from Ireland even though they did not originate from Ireland.

☘ Shamrocks are three leave clovers. When they were introduced as a national symbol St. Patrick’s Day celebrations turned green. Before this blue was the celebration color.

☘ If you can catch a leprechaun it is a must that this solitary fairy tells you where the pot of gold is.

☘ If you see people not wearing green on St. Patrick’s Day you can pinch them.

☘ The first St. Patrick’s Day parade did not happen in Ireland but in America.

☘ Mother colors their food green on this day. Green oats, green mashed potatoes, green popcorn, green potato salad and this is all to go with the green beer that dad will be drinking.

☘ The biggest event in Asia, the I Love Ireland Festival takes place in Japan. After an absence of three years due to Covid-19 it was hosted a week ago. It was a two-day event and green was no doubt the color.

☘ It is estimated that 10 million glasses of the Irish most loved drink, Guinness, are sold each day.

☘ Ireland's National Anthem is called "The Soldier's Song"

I love the chorus of this song;
Ireland, Ireland, together standing tall
Shoulder to shoulder
We’ll answer Ireland’s call

For my family, St. Patrick’s was celebrated in two countries yesterday, Ireland and South Africa.

The Ireland family dressed up, took the streets for the parade, and then chilled in a small family pub.

The South African family, I included, celebrated at The Market, a food court in one of our shopping malls. There was a fantastic vibe, great food, sing along live Irish music, and of course, green beer.

We all agreed that we cannot wait for 17 March 2024! Hopefully the next will not be celebrated via life streaming but with all of us together.

Here’s to a long life and a merry one. A quick death and an easy one. A pretty girl and an honest one. A cold pint and another one! By the Irish